Two more scouts vanished during the night patrol. The disappearances are moving closer. And Cinder just found a piece of shell that doesn’t belong to any ant.
In this episode, the colony wakes to an emergency meeting. Cinder, Blaze, and Thistle eavesdrop from a hidden tunnel junction and learn the food shortage is far worse than anyone is publicly admitting. Then Cinder discovers something in the supply room that Thistle identifies as pill bug shell — a creature that shouldn’t be anywhere near their territory. The investigation is now a mission.
Colony in Danger is a serialized adventure audiobook for boys ages 8–14 and families.
Start from Episode 1. New episodes weekly.
For fans of Watership Down, Empires of the Undergrowth, and AntsCanada.
📖 Buy the full Colony in Danger Part 1 audiobook: Coming Soon!
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The disappearances follow a pattern moving toward the colony. Cinder finds a piece of pill bug shell in the supply room — a creature whose territory is far to the west, beyond the meadow. Thistle identifies it. Blaze wants to take it to Captain Selwick. Cinder wants to investigate themselves. Three young ants, one dangerous idea, and zero authority to pursue it. This reluctant reader and homeschool audiobook series is built on real fire ant biology and colony behavior.
What would you do with the shell evidence?
I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:
- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure
- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure
- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier
- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation
- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory
📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ
📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself? Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group
Thank you for listening! This is Reed Sterling. Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Two more scouts didn't come back.
(00:01):
The pattern is moving closer tothe colony every night, and
whatever is taking them hasn'tleft a single shell behind.
This is Compass and Codex.
Never stop exploring unknownworlds.
Colony in Danger A Fire AntAdventure.
(00:22):
Chapter three The Missing ScoutsScene one The alarm sounded at
dawn, a three tone chime usuallyreserved for flooding or fire.
Cinder Marlow jerked awake, legscoiling, antennae stabbing the
air for threat.
In the corridor outside hissleeping cubby, workers
(00:44):
stampeded, their bodies forminga living current, dragging late
risers toward the main tunnels.
It was chaos, but not themindless kind.
There was pattern in it, a pulseof old instincts roused by new
fear.
Blaze was waiting at thethreshold, still crusted with
sleep.
His voice, husky and low, cutthrough the din.
(01:07):
Trouble Cinder nodded.
Real trouble.
Listen.
In the distance, a new sound.
Captain Bram Selwick's call.
Normally, the captain barkedorders like he was speaking to
stones, nothing personal, justforce and expectation.
Today the shout was brittle,like he'd been up all night
(01:30):
fighting ghosts.
Perimeter team, report to GrandChamber.
All hands, move.
Cinder caught the scent ofworry, thick as old blood.
He nudged Blaze, who fell intostep behind.
Thisle met them at the firstjunction, already up, antennae
flickering like twin wires.
You hear it?
(01:50):
she whispered.
Something got the night patrol.
Maybe two.
Cinder's pulse hammered.
Let's get close.
Main ring, west side, fastestway to the chamber.
They weaved through a maze ofsecondary corridors, up, then
left, then under the old waistchute.
The crowd thinned as they nearedthe administration level.
(02:13):
Here the tunnels were cold andsilent, every ant locked in
place by the gravity of badnews.
Cinder slowed at the bendoverlooking the grand chamber.
From this spot if you lay flat,the acoustics funneled every
sound up from below.
He pressed himself against theearth, pulling Blaze and Thistle
tight beside him.
(02:34):
Down in the bowl, Bram Selwickstomped in angry loops.
He looked different, shellflecked with dust, eyes sunken,
one antenna bent in a way thatsaid he'd already head butted a
wall or two this morning.
The Queen's Dais sat empty, herarrival pending.
In the centre of the floor acluster of royal guards stood
(02:56):
motionless.
Even the guards looked nervous,legs bunched, eyes darting.
A sudden shift in the air, andthe Queen entered, small, dark,
radiating pressure like athunderhead.
She climbed the Dais with nowasted motion.
When she reached the top shedidn't sit, she just stood,
surveying the chamber.
(03:17):
Bram cut the formalities.
Majesty, patrol six and sevenfailed to return, last contact
at shift change.
No signs, no struggle, noshells, no pheromone trace.
The Queen's face didn't flicker,but her antennae drew close,
then slowly unfurled.
(03:37):
How many lost?
Six.
Counting reserves eight bysundown.
A low hum rippled through thelistening ants.
Cinder's mind ran the numbers.
Six lost meant a third of theperimeter gone in one night,
unheard of.
Selwick kept going, voicerising.
Food stores are dropping fasterthan projected.
(03:59):
Even with rationing we can'thold a lockdown more than five
days.
He snapped a seed of fungus fromhis leg, crushed it underfoot.
We need answers, not moremissing.
The Queen shifted her gaze tothe guard.
Contain the colony.
Double all posts, no one leaveswithout my direct order.
A chorus of Yes, Majesty echoed,but even Cinder could tell the
(04:22):
confidence was for show.
Send a scout team, she said,voice calm as a blade.
The best we have.
Already selected, Majesty,Selwick replied.
Harper Blackwood leads.
He's assembling now.
A pause, then the Queen.
Bring me results or bring mesuspects.
(04:43):
Selwick's jaw flexed.
It will be done.
The Queen turned, her antennaeslicing the air.
All other business is suspended.
Anyone found outside authorizedroutes will be detained.
Understood, Bram said.
Full sweep begins at secondbell.
The meeting dissolved into aburst of motion.
(05:05):
Guards ran for exits.
A pair of kitchen ants sprintedfor the supplies level, almost
colliding with a record keeperwhose job was to chronicle every
disaster in real time.
The only one who didn't move wasthe Queen.
She just stood at the top of thedais, eyes sweeping the room,
daring anyone to challenge herorder.
(05:26):
Cinder, Blaze, and Thistlepulled back into the shadows, no
one saw them.
They doubled back to their ownlevel, moving silent and quick.
Behind them they heard theassembling of Harper Blackwood's
team.
The sound was different than theregular patrol, a tighter
rhythm, each step precisely intime.
Harper himself led the line, acompact beetle with a shell the
(05:50):
color of wet soil and a facethat looked like it had never
once smiled.
Behind him the best scouts inthe kingdom, hand picked and
armed with fresh cut jawbladesand water filtration packs.
Cinder watched the procession,barely able to keep his
mandibles from trembling withexcitement.
This was history unfolding rightin front of them.
(06:12):
He itched to follow, to watchthe pros at work.
Beside him Thistle leaned in,her voice barely audible.
No way they last more than a dayout there.
Not with something picking themoff, Blaze said.
He looked at Cinder, waiting forthe plan.
Cinder took a slow breath, thechill of the wall pressed
(06:35):
against his shell.
We stay on them.
Map every move.
If the adults can't crack it,maybe we can.
Blaze grinned.
I'm in.
Thistle gave a single sharp nod.
Down below the Queen's wordsstill echoed.
No one else is to leave thecolony without direct
(06:57):
authorization.
Cinder watched the last of theelite scouts disappear into the
dark.
He pressed his head to the coldearth, memorizing every detail.
Let the adults try to hold thewalls.
He was already thinking outsidethem.
Scene two Cinder waited untilthe noise from the grand chamber
(07:22):
faded, then slipped into thehush of the maintenance tunnels.
If anyone saw him, they'd assumehe was on trash detail, or, at
worst, sneaking a snack from thebackstock.
But Cinder moved with intent,every step calibrated for
silence and speed.
He caught Silas Venn's trailnear the east side water tank, a
(07:42):
faint dusting of broken seedhulls, a fresh swipe of scent
marker that meant authorizedpersonnel only.
Silas wasn't as good at coveringhis tracks as he thought.
Cinder followed the windingroute, keeping two turns and a
corner behind, eyes peeled forthe glint of movement ahead.
The further in, the more obviousthe difference from yesterday.
(08:05):
No hum of conversation, nocareless stomping.
Even the youngest workers spokein whispers, heads together,
antennae drooped in conspiracy.
Guards stood at everyintersection now two by two,
their bodies forming livingbarricades across the main
arteries.
Silas wasn't heading for thefront lines.
He stopped at every storageroom, using his own key to slip
(08:28):
inside and out.
Sometimes he spent only a fewseconds just enough to log the
inventory, other times he stayedlonger, crouched in the corner,
eyes fixed on the bins, as ifwaiting for something to move.
Cinder watched from shadow,keeping his breathing shallow.
He counted five rooms in a rowwith no usable stores.
(08:49):
The sixth had a bin of witheredfungus, half the usual amount if
that.
By the eighth, Silas stoppedpretending things were normal.
He kicked a seed hull across thefloor and slumped against the
wall, his frustration echoingdown the empty tunnel.
Cinder ducked behind a caved insupport beam as Silas's head
(09:09):
whipped around.
For a moment their eyes nearlymet, but Cinder melted into the
dark, motionless.
Silas scribbled notes on a sliceof leaf, using a bit of
sharpened twig to make marks.
He'd adapted Etta's old notationsystem, but added his own code.
Cinder caught the patterns, eachnumber a breadcrumb in a trail
(09:30):
of disaster.
A shift in air.
Another ant entered the tunnel,smaller, older, her shell dusty
and pale.
She and Silas spoke in lowtones, voices warped by the
close walls.
Any better?
she asked, her tone resigned.
Silas shook his head.
All gone, even the ones wechecked last night.
(09:53):
She swore softly.
It's not rats.
They'd leave shreds.
Or a scent, Silas added.
This is clean, like it neverexisted.
They leaned close,conspiratorial.
Cinder strained to hear everysyllable.
Silas tapped his chart.
(10:14):
See how the empties form aspiral?
Like something's working in.
Closer and closer.
We're the next ring.
The old ant's antennae flattenedin dread.
We'll be starving before theweek's end.
Silas's voice was so quiet itbarely reached Cinder.
Don't tell anyone yet.
(10:35):
If panic sets in the old antnodded, vanished as quick as she
came.
Silas sat for a while longer,picking at his mapping leaf.
Then he tucked it away, rose,and moved to the next chamber.
Cinder followed, careful not tomake even a whisper of noise.
The pattern was clear now.
(10:56):
Each stolen cache brought thevoid closer to the core of the
colony.
Whatever was stealing the foodwasn't random.
It was deliberate.
It was hungry, and it was smart.
At the main junction, Cinder sawtwo new guards.
These were bigger than themorning shift, royal guard, not
just tufts from the nurseryring.
(11:18):
He let Silas get farther ahead,then darted behind a bin stack
and waited.
He caught a snatch of talk asthe guards rotated.
Queen says only essentials in orout.
Like that's going to stop thethief, the other replied.
Even the captain can't plugevery hole.
Hope he's smarter than he looks,the first one grunted.
(11:40):
Otherwise we're all dead by nextseason.
They both went silent as Silaspassed, saluting him with the
formal sign.
Cinder used the distraction toslide around the junction,
keeping low.
He tracked Silas all the way tothe deep storage near the old
fungus farm.
Here the air was thick andsweet, masking other scents.
(12:02):
Silas ducked inside the mainroom, but this time he didn't
come out.
Cinder crept closer, flatteninghimself against the door frame.
He heard Silas muttering tohimself, reciting numbers,
clicking his mandibles infrustration.
And then, suddenly Silas stoppedtalking.
There was a long pause, thenSilas's voice, louder, right at
(12:26):
the door.
You can come in now, Marlowe, Iknow you're there.
Cinder froze, his body prickledwith embarrassment and fear.
A beat passed, then Silascracked the door and peered out,
eyes wide but calm.
You're not as quiet as youthink, he said, and the hint of
a grin cut through the tension.
(12:48):
Cinder stepped out of theshadow.
Neither are you.
Why are you checking the stores?
Queen's orders, Silas replied,eyes scanning the empty shelves
behind him.
And because someone has to countthe holes before the whole thing
sinks.
Cinder glanced past him at thebins.
(13:09):
How bad is it?
Silas shrugged.
Worse than anyone knows.
You saw the maps?
Cinder nodded.
It's closing in.
Silas hesitated, then handedCinder the mapping leaf.
You're smarter than most, figureit out, but if you tell anyone,
you'll blow the whole thing.
He looked around, then leanedin.
(13:32):
They're watching you too.
Bram said you've got a nose forthis sort of trouble.
Cinder pocketed the leaf, unsurehow to answer.
Silas straightened, back to fullprotocol mode.
Stay out of the tunnels afterdark, Marlowe, and tell your
friends the same.
With that, Silas turned andwalked away, shoulders squared
(13:55):
against the growing darkness.
Cinder stood alone in the emptycorridor, the weight of the
evidence heavy in his chest.
The spiral was closing, andthere was no way to stop it with
numbers or rules.
If he wanted to save the colony,he'd have to move faster than
the spiral itself.
He clutched the mapping leaftight and ran for the only
(14:16):
friends who'd listen.
Scene three.
The main storage chamber feltsmaller than it used to.
Etta Lorne scurried from bin tobin, antennae cutting anxious
circles in the dusty air,mandibles a hair's breadth from
cracking under the strain.
Cinder matched her pace,stacking and restacking seeds,
(14:40):
trying to keep up with herflurry of orders.
Every time she barked a newcount, he'd already run the
numbers in his head and come upshort.
The bins were emptying fasterthan even Silas's worst case
projections.
Again, Etta commanded, raking acluster of millet into a neat
heap.
We have to find the miscount.
Cinder started over, scrapingthe pile into the metal tray,
(15:02):
eyes flicking to the logbook ashe worked.
Nothing's changed since lastpass, he said, keeping his voice
even.
Etta didn't respond.
She was at the far rack,counting, then counting again.
By the third time her antennaedrooped in defeat.
Cinder stole a glance at theentry tunnel.
No one else was scheduled forthis shift, which made sense.
(15:25):
There was barely enough to sort.
He dug into the back of thesunflower pile, scooping up the
bottom layer.
Something hard and cold snaggedhis mandible, a sliver of shell,
slate grey, smooth as riverstone.
Not ant.
Not even close.
Cinder palmed it, slipped itunder his leg joint, and
(15:45):
finished the sort before Ettanoticed.
Etta's muttering had grownlouder.
If it drops again tomorrow,we'll have to ration the
nursery.
I won't do it.
She slammed the lid on an emptybin.
I can't.
Cinder approached, holding hishands out.
It's not your fault.
(16:06):
Something's taking it.
We just have to figure out what.
Etta gave him a look so tired itcould have been carved from
bone.
That's for Captain Selwick andthe Queen.
Our job is to make sure thelittle ones don't starve.
She sagged onto a packing crate,head in her hands.
For a moment Cinder saw past thefussy perfectionist to the ant
(16:29):
underneath, scared, stretchedthin, holding a kingdom together
with sheer stubbornness.
He wanted to tell her about themapping leaf, about Silas's
spiral, about the way the voidwas eating the colony from
inside out.
Instead, he said nothing, justhelped pack the last rations for
the day.
They finished late, long aftermost shifts had changed.
(16:53):
Etta left without a word, movingslow as molasses.
Cinder waited until her scentfaded before pulling out the
shell fragment.
He held it to the low light, itcaught no reflection, swallowed
it instead.
He turned it over, tested theedge with his mandible, too
thick for spider, not segmentedlike beetle, definitely not ant.
(17:17):
He pocketed the evidence, wipedhis hands, and headed for the
back tunnels.
He found Blaze and Thislealready waiting at the secret
alcove.
Blaze leaned against the wall,arms crossed, one foot tapping
an impatient rhythm.
Thisle sat cross legged on acrate, a battered notebook open
in her lap, eyes narrowed at thefirst page.
(17:39):
You're late, Blaze said, barelyhiding his relief.
Cinder shrugged, produced thefragment, and placed it between
them.
Found this in the seed bins.
Thistle snapped upright.
She picked up the sliver with adelicacy that made Cinder a
little jealous, her antennaeprobing every angle.
(17:59):
Not local, she said, immediateand certain.
Not even from this side of themeadow.
Blaze peered at it, browfurrowed.
What is it then?
Pill bug, Thistle answered, nohesitation.
Young, maybe a season old.
They shed these when they molt.
Pill bugs don't live here, Blazeobjected.
(18:19):
Too dry, too much competition.
They do now, Cinder said.
He relayed what he'd seen,Silas's maps, the spiral, the
food vanishing with no trace.
They're moving in, close enoughto steal from storage without
getting caught.
Blaze stared at the fragment,then at Cinder.
(18:41):
We take this to Bram.
He'll put the whole guard on it.
Maybe even call for help fromthe outside.
Cinder shook his head.
No way.
Adults don't listen to us.
Even Bram only cares aboutwhat's right in front of his
face.
Thisle drummed her fingers onthe crate.
(19:01):
If we report it, we lose theadvantage.
If we're wrong, or if they don'tbelieve us, we get stuck
counting fungus until next molt,or worse.
Blaze looked unconvinced.
So what?
We do nothing?
Wait for them to break through?
Cinder leaned forward, voice lowand sharp.
(19:23):
We do what the scouts couldn't.
We go out there, find where thepill bugs are coming from, and
cut them off before they drainus dry.
Blaze laughed, just a bark ofdisbelief.
You want to leave the colony?
With the Queen's lockdown?
That's exile.
Thisle met Cinder's gazeweighing him, then nodded.
(19:44):
It's the only way to know forsure.
Blaze started to argue, butThistle cut him off.
He's right.
If the spiral closes it hits thenursery first.
My siblings are in there.
Blaze fell silent, jaw working.
After a moment he nodded justonce.
Cinder set the shell fragment inthe middle of the crate.
(20:06):
We track them tonight.
Just to the edge.
In and out, nobody knows.
Thistle tucked the evidence intoher pouch, sealed it with a
careful twist.
We'll need to move at dusk.
Guards change over then, and thewestern entrance is least
patrolled.
I'll cover the rear, Blazevolunteered.
(20:26):
If something goes bad, I canhold a tunnel longer than anyone
else.
Cinder's heart thrummed.
Good.
That's good.
We meet at the West Tunnel,third shift bell.
No detours, no showing off.
We get in, find the source, getout.
Thisle smiled, a rare, real one.
(20:46):
You ever get tired of beingright, Sin?
Cinder grinned.
I'd rather be alive.
They sat in the alcove a minutelonger, the fragment heavy
between them, the world outsideshrinking to the shape of that
tiny threat.
For the first time in days,Cinder felt a surge of hope.
The colony didn't have to goquietly, not if they fought back
(21:09):
together.
He looked at his friends, Blazealready flexing his hands,
Thistle mentally mapping everyinch of the exit routes, and
knew they'd hold to the plan.
Tomorrow the adults would waketo the same shrinking rations
and the same spiraling panic.
But tonight, Cinder and his crewwould take the first step into
(21:31):
the unknown.
They'd follow the spiral to itscenter and rip out the heart of
the threat before it could crushthem.
The fragment gleamed dully inThisle's pouch, their first
clue, their only weapon, and theseed of something dangerous and
new.
Cinder couldn't wait.
Colony in Danger Part one isavailable as a complete
(21:51):
audiobook at the link in theshow notes.
Chapter four is next.
The Queen addresses the entirecolony.
And the decree she makes willforce Cinder to choose between
obeying the law and savingeveryone.
Thank you for listening toCompass and Codex Never Stop
(22:14):
Exploring Unknown Worlds.
Two more scouts didn't come back.
(00:01):
The pattern is moving closer tothe colony every night, and
whatever is taking them hasn'tleft a single shell behind.
This is Compass and Codex.
Never stop exploring unknownworlds.
Colony in Danger A Fire AntAdventure.
(00:22):
Chapter three The Missing ScoutsScene one The alarm sounded at
dawn, a three tone chime usuallyreserved for flooding or fire.
Cinder Marlow jerked awake, legscoiling, antennae stabbing the
air for threat.
In the corridor outside hissleeping cubby, workers
(00:44):
stampeded, their bodies forminga living current, dragging late
risers toward the main tunnels.
It was chaos, but not themindless kind.
There was pattern in it, a pulseof old instincts roused by new
fear.
Blaze was waiting at thethreshold, still crusted with
sleep.
His voice, husky and low, cutthrough the din.
(01:07):
Trouble Cinder nodded.
Real trouble.
Listen.
In the distance, a new sound.
Captain Bram Selwick's call.
Normally, the captain barkedorders like he was speaking to
stones, nothing personal, justforce and expectation.
Today the shout was brittle,like he'd been up all night
(01:30):
fighting ghosts.
Perimeter team, report to GrandChamber.
All hands, move.
Cinder caught the scent ofworry, thick as old blood.
He nudged Blaze, who fell intostep behind.
Thisle met them at the firstjunction, already up, antennae
flickering like twin wires.
You hear it?
(01:50):
she whispered.
Something got the night patrol.
Maybe two.
Cinder's pulse hammered.
Let's get close.
Main ring, west side, fastestway to the chamber.
They weaved through a maze ofsecondary corridors, up, then
left, then under the old waistchute.
The crowd thinned as they nearedthe administration level.
(02:13):
Here the tunnels were cold andsilent, every ant locked in
place by the gravity of badnews.
Cinder slowed at the bendoverlooking the grand chamber.
From this spot if you lay flat,the acoustics funneled every
sound up from below.
He pressed himself against theearth, pulling Blaze and Thistle
tight beside him.
(02:34):
Down in the bowl, Bram Selwickstomped in angry loops.
He looked different, shellflecked with dust, eyes sunken,
one antenna bent in a way thatsaid he'd already head butted a
wall or two this morning.
The Queen's Dais sat empty, herarrival pending.
In the centre of the floor acluster of royal guards stood
(02:56):
motionless.
Even the guards looked nervous,legs bunched, eyes darting.
A sudden shift in the air, andthe Queen entered, small, dark,
radiating pressure like athunderhead.
She climbed the Dais with nowasted motion.
When she reached the top shedidn't sit, she just stood,
surveying the chamber.
(03:17):
Bram cut the formalities.
Majesty, patrol six and sevenfailed to return, last contact
at shift change.
No signs, no struggle, noshells, no pheromone trace.
The Queen's face didn't flicker,but her antennae drew close,
then slowly unfurled.
(03:37):
How many lost?
Six.
Counting reserves eight bysundown.
A low hum rippled through thelistening ants.
Cinder's mind ran the numbers.
Six lost meant a third of theperimeter gone in one night,
unheard of.
Selwick kept going, voicerising.
Food stores are dropping fasterthan projected.
(03:59):
Even with rationing we can'thold a lockdown more than five
days.
He snapped a seed of fungus fromhis leg, crushed it underfoot.
We need answers, not moremissing.
The Queen shifted her gaze tothe guard.
Contain the colony.
Double all posts, no one leaveswithout my direct order.
A chorus of Yes, Majesty echoed,but even Cinder could tell the
(04:22):
confidence was for show.
Send a scout team, she said,voice calm as a blade.
The best we have.
Already selected, Majesty,Selwick replied.
Harper Blackwood leads.
He's assembling now.
A pause, then the Queen.
Bring me results or bring mesuspects.
(04:43):
Selwick's jaw flexed.
It will be done.
The Queen turned, her antennaeslicing the air.
All other business is suspended.
Anyone found outside authorizedroutes will be detained.
Understood, Bram said.
Full sweep begins at secondbell.
The meeting dissolved into aburst of motion.
(05:05):
Guards ran for exits.
A pair of kitchen ants sprintedfor the supplies level, almost
colliding with a record keeperwhose job was to chronicle every
disaster in real time.
The only one who didn't move wasthe Queen.
She just stood at the top of thedais, eyes sweeping the room,
daring anyone to challenge herorder.
(05:26):
Cinder, Blaze, and Thistlepulled back into the shadows, no
one saw them.
They doubled back to their ownlevel, moving silent and quick.
Behind them they heard theassembling of Harper Blackwood's
team.
The sound was different than theregular patrol, a tighter
rhythm, each step precisely intime.
Harper himself led the line, acompact beetle with a shell the
(05:50):
color of wet soil and a facethat looked like it had never
once smiled.
Behind him the best scouts inthe kingdom, hand picked and
armed with fresh cut jawbladesand water filtration packs.
Cinder watched the procession,barely able to keep his
mandibles from trembling withexcitement.
This was history unfolding rightin front of them.
(06:12):
He itched to follow, to watchthe pros at work.
Beside him Thistle leaned in,her voice barely audible.
No way they last more than a dayout there.
Not with something picking themoff, Blaze said.
He looked at Cinder, waiting forthe plan.
Cinder took a slow breath, thechill of the wall pressed
(06:35):
against his shell.
We stay on them.
Map every move.
If the adults can't crack it,maybe we can.
Blaze grinned.
I'm in.
Thistle gave a single sharp nod.
Down below the Queen's wordsstill echoed.
No one else is to leave thecolony without direct
(06:57):
authorization.
Cinder watched the last of theelite scouts disappear into the
dark.
He pressed his head to the coldearth, memorizing every detail.
Let the adults try to hold thewalls.
He was already thinking outsidethem.
Scene two Cinder waited untilthe noise from the grand chamber
(07:22):
faded, then slipped into thehush of the maintenance tunnels.
If anyone saw him, they'd assumehe was on trash detail, or, at
worst, sneaking a snack from thebackstock.
But Cinder moved with intent,every step calibrated for
silence and speed.
He caught Silas Venn's trailnear the east side water tank, a
(07:42):
faint dusting of broken seedhulls, a fresh swipe of scent
marker that meant authorizedpersonnel only.
Silas wasn't as good at coveringhis tracks as he thought.
Cinder followed the windingroute, keeping two turns and a
corner behind, eyes peeled forthe glint of movement ahead.
The further in, the more obviousthe difference from yesterday.
(08:05):
No hum of conversation, nocareless stomping.
Even the youngest workers spokein whispers, heads together,
antennae drooped in conspiracy.
Guards stood at everyintersection now two by two,
their bodies forming livingbarricades across the main
arteries.
Silas wasn't heading for thefront lines.
He stopped at every storageroom, using his own key to slip
(08:28):
inside and out.
Sometimes he spent only a fewseconds just enough to log the
inventory, other times he stayedlonger, crouched in the corner,
eyes fixed on the bins, as ifwaiting for something to move.
Cinder watched from shadow,keeping his breathing shallow.
He counted five rooms in a rowwith no usable stores.
(08:49):
The sixth had a bin of witheredfungus, half the usual amount if
that.
By the eighth, Silas stoppedpretending things were normal.
He kicked a seed hull across thefloor and slumped against the
wall, his frustration echoingdown the empty tunnel.
Cinder ducked behind a caved insupport beam as Silas's head
(09:09):
whipped around.
For a moment their eyes nearlymet, but Cinder melted into the
dark, motionless.
Silas scribbled notes on a sliceof leaf, using a bit of
sharpened twig to make marks.
He'd adapted Etta's old notationsystem, but added his own code.
Cinder caught the patterns, eachnumber a breadcrumb in a trail
(09:30):
of disaster.
A shift in air.
Another ant entered the tunnel,smaller, older, her shell dusty
and pale.
She and Silas spoke in lowtones, voices warped by the
close walls.
Any better?
she asked, her tone resigned.
Silas shook his head.
All gone, even the ones wechecked last night.
(09:53):
She swore softly.
It's not rats.
They'd leave shreds.
Or a scent, Silas added.
This is clean, like it neverexisted.
They leaned close,conspiratorial.
Cinder strained to hear everysyllable.
Silas tapped his chart.
(10:14):
See how the empties form aspiral?
Like something's working in.
Closer and closer.
We're the next ring.
The old ant's antennae flattenedin dread.
We'll be starving before theweek's end.
Silas's voice was so quiet itbarely reached Cinder.
Don't tell anyone yet.
(10:35):
If panic sets in the old antnodded, vanished as quick as she
came.
Silas sat for a while longer,picking at his mapping leaf.
Then he tucked it away, rose,and moved to the next chamber.
Cinder followed, careful not tomake even a whisper of noise.
The pattern was clear now.
(10:56):
Each stolen cache brought thevoid closer to the core of the
colony.
Whatever was stealing the foodwasn't random.
It was deliberate.
It was hungry, and it was smart.
At the main junction, Cinder sawtwo new guards.
These were bigger than themorning shift, royal guard, not
just tufts from the nurseryring.
(11:18):
He let Silas get farther ahead,then darted behind a bin stack
and waited.
He caught a snatch of talk asthe guards rotated.
Queen says only essentials in orout.
Like that's going to stop thethief, the other replied.
Even the captain can't plugevery hole.
Hope he's smarter than he looks,the first one grunted.
(11:40):
Otherwise we're all dead by nextseason.
They both went silent as Silaspassed, saluting him with the
formal sign.
Cinder used the distraction toslide around the junction,
keeping low.
He tracked Silas all the way tothe deep storage near the old
fungus farm.
Here the air was thick andsweet, masking other scents.
(12:02):
Silas ducked inside the mainroom, but this time he didn't
come out.
Cinder crept closer, flatteninghimself against the door frame.
He heard Silas muttering tohimself, reciting numbers,
clicking his mandibles infrustration.
And then, suddenly Silas stoppedtalking.
There was a long pause, thenSilas's voice, louder, right at
(12:26):
the door.
You can come in now, Marlowe, Iknow you're there.
Cinder froze, his body prickledwith embarrassment and fear.
A beat passed, then Silascracked the door and peered out,
eyes wide but calm.
You're not as quiet as youthink, he said, and the hint of
a grin cut through the tension.
(12:48):
Cinder stepped out of theshadow.
Neither are you.
Why are you checking the stores?
Queen's orders, Silas replied,eyes scanning the empty shelves
behind him.
And because someone has to countthe holes before the whole thing
sinks.
Cinder glanced past him at thebins.
(13:09):
How bad is it?
Silas shrugged.
Worse than anyone knows.
You saw the maps?
Cinder nodded.
It's closing in.
Silas hesitated, then handedCinder the mapping leaf.
You're smarter than most, figureit out, but if you tell anyone,
you'll blow the whole thing.
He looked around, then leanedin.
(13:32):
They're watching you too.
Bram said you've got a nose forthis sort of trouble.
Cinder pocketed the leaf, unsurehow to answer.
Silas straightened, back to fullprotocol mode.
Stay out of the tunnels afterdark, Marlowe, and tell your
friends the same.
With that, Silas turned andwalked away, shoulders squared
(13:55):
against the growing darkness.
Cinder stood alone in the emptycorridor, the weight of the
evidence heavy in his chest.
The spiral was closing, andthere was no way to stop it with
numbers or rules.
If he wanted to save the colony,he'd have to move faster than
the spiral itself.
He clutched the mapping leaftight and ran for the only
(14:16):
friends who'd listen.
Scene three.
The main storage chamber feltsmaller than it used to.
Etta Lorne scurried from bin tobin, antennae cutting anxious
circles in the dusty air,mandibles a hair's breadth from
cracking under the strain.
Cinder matched her pace,stacking and restacking seeds,
(14:40):
trying to keep up with herflurry of orders.
Every time she barked a newcount, he'd already run the
numbers in his head and come upshort.
The bins were emptying fasterthan even Silas's worst case
projections.
Again, Etta commanded, raking acluster of millet into a neat
heap.
We have to find the miscount.
Cinder started over, scrapingthe pile into the metal tray,
(15:02):
eyes flicking to the logbook ashe worked.
Nothing's changed since lastpass, he said, keeping his voice
even.
Etta didn't respond.
She was at the far rack,counting, then counting again.
By the third time her antennaedrooped in defeat.
Cinder stole a glance at theentry tunnel.
No one else was scheduled forthis shift, which made sense.
(15:25):
There was barely enough to sort.
He dug into the back of thesunflower pile, scooping up the
bottom layer.
Something hard and cold snaggedhis mandible, a sliver of shell,
slate grey, smooth as riverstone.
Not ant.
Not even close.
Cinder palmed it, slipped itunder his leg joint, and
(15:45):
finished the sort before Ettanoticed.
Etta's muttering had grownlouder.
If it drops again tomorrow,we'll have to ration the
nursery.
I won't do it.
She slammed the lid on an emptybin.
I can't.
Cinder approached, holding hishands out.
It's not your fault.
(16:06):
Something's taking it.
We just have to figure out what.
Etta gave him a look so tired itcould have been carved from
bone.
That's for Captain Selwick andthe Queen.
Our job is to make sure thelittle ones don't starve.
She sagged onto a packing crate,head in her hands.
For a moment Cinder saw past thefussy perfectionist to the ant
(16:29):
underneath, scared, stretchedthin, holding a kingdom together
with sheer stubbornness.
He wanted to tell her about themapping leaf, about Silas's
spiral, about the way the voidwas eating the colony from
inside out.
Instead, he said nothing, justhelped pack the last rations for
the day.
They finished late, long aftermost shifts had changed.
(16:53):
Etta left without a word, movingslow as molasses.
Cinder waited until her scentfaded before pulling out the
shell fragment.
He held it to the low light, itcaught no reflection, swallowed
it instead.
He turned it over, tested theedge with his mandible, too
thick for spider, not segmentedlike beetle, definitely not ant.
(17:17):
He pocketed the evidence, wipedhis hands, and headed for the
back tunnels.
He found Blaze and Thislealready waiting at the secret
alcove.
Blaze leaned against the wall,arms crossed, one foot tapping
an impatient rhythm.
Thisle sat cross legged on acrate, a battered notebook open
in her lap, eyes narrowed at thefirst page.
(17:39):
You're late, Blaze said, barelyhiding his relief.
Cinder shrugged, produced thefragment, and placed it between
them.
Found this in the seed bins.
Thistle snapped upright.
She picked up the sliver with adelicacy that made Cinder a
little jealous, her antennaeprobing every angle.
(17:59):
Not local, she said, immediateand certain.
Not even from this side of themeadow.
Blaze peered at it, browfurrowed.
What is it then?
Pill bug, Thistle answered, nohesitation.
Young, maybe a season old.
They shed these when they molt.
Pill bugs don't live here, Blazeobjected.
(18:19):
Too dry, too much competition.
They do now, Cinder said.
He relayed what he'd seen,Silas's maps, the spiral, the
food vanishing with no trace.
They're moving in, close enoughto steal from storage without
getting caught.
Blaze stared at the fragment,then at Cinder.
(18:41):
We take this to Bram.
He'll put the whole guard on it.
Maybe even call for help fromthe outside.
Cinder shook his head.
No way.
Adults don't listen to us.
Even Bram only cares aboutwhat's right in front of his
face.
Thisle drummed her fingers onthe crate.
(19:01):
If we report it, we lose theadvantage.
If we're wrong, or if they don'tbelieve us, we get stuck
counting fungus until next molt,or worse.
Blaze looked unconvinced.
So what?
We do nothing?
Wait for them to break through?
Cinder leaned forward, voice lowand sharp.
(19:23):
We do what the scouts couldn't.
We go out there, find where thepill bugs are coming from, and
cut them off before they drainus dry.
Blaze laughed, just a bark ofdisbelief.
You want to leave the colony?
With the Queen's lockdown?
That's exile.
Thisle met Cinder's gazeweighing him, then nodded.
(19:44):
It's the only way to know forsure.
Blaze started to argue, butThistle cut him off.
He's right.
If the spiral closes it hits thenursery first.
My siblings are in there.
Blaze fell silent, jaw working.
After a moment he nodded justonce.
Cinder set the shell fragment inthe middle of the crate.
(20:06):
We track them tonight.
Just to the edge.
In and out, nobody knows.
Thistle tucked the evidence intoher pouch, sealed it with a
careful twist.
We'll need to move at dusk.
Guards change over then, and thewestern entrance is least
patrolled.
I'll cover the rear, Blazevolunteered.
(20:26):
If something goes bad, I canhold a tunnel longer than anyone
else.
Cinder's heart thrummed.
Good.
That's good.
We meet at the West Tunnel,third shift bell.
No detours, no showing off.
We get in, find the source, getout.
Thisle smiled, a rare, real one.
(20:46):
You ever get tired of beingright, Sin?
Cinder grinned.
I'd rather be alive.
They sat in the alcove a minutelonger, the fragment heavy
between them, the world outsideshrinking to the shape of that
tiny threat.
For the first time in days,Cinder felt a surge of hope.
The colony didn't have to goquietly, not if they fought back
(21:09):
together.
He looked at his friends, Blazealready flexing his hands,
Thistle mentally mapping everyinch of the exit routes, and
knew they'd hold to the plan.
Tomorrow the adults would waketo the same shrinking rations
and the same spiraling panic.
But tonight, Cinder and his crewwould take the first step into
(21:31):
the unknown.
They'd follow the spiral to itscenter and rip out the heart of
the threat before it could crushthem.
The fragment gleamed dully inThisle's pouch, their first
clue, their only weapon, and theseed of something dangerous and
new.
Cinder couldn't wait.
Colony in Danger Part one isavailable as a complete
(21:51):
audiobook at the link in theshow notes.
Chapter four is next.
The Queen addresses the entirecolony.
And the decree she makes willforce Cinder to choose between
obeying the law and savingeveryone.
Thank you for listening toCompass and Codex Never Stop
(22:14):
Exploring Unknown Worlds.
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